Teaching Young Beginners Piano Keys

Black Key Cards

Have you ever started a young beginner and noticed a lot of your usual teaching methods and ideas are not working? I remember using a letter of the alphabet to teach notes and the little child hanging his head in apparent shame as he mumbled, “I can’t read yet.” That was one of my many lightbulb moments when I realized my piano teaching might not be lining up with what I had learned in my early childhood education classes!

There are so many cute ways to teach note names using alphabet letter mnemonics. There are fun stories such as the “aunt” going in the “front” door and going out the “back” door and eating “grapes and apples!” There are animals for the name of each key such as my Animal Alphabet Keys.

But what if your student is a beginning reader and doesn’t know how to spell? As I discovered teaching young beginners years ago, it can take young children a long time to learn piano keys. But this doesn’t mean we have to give up and not give young children the educational advantages of learning piano.

The first step to learning piano keys is to recognize that the groups of two and three keys are how we learn the names, so for a young child that is where to start. I came up with this design that my younger students love putting on the keyboard.

I have students place them in the correct spot and then we find the C’s and later find the F’s. As time goes by, our students’ reading ability increases and before long they know the names of all the piano keys.

These printables are found in book one of Fun with Frogs, but I’ve made them available without having to buy the entire book. Print them on card stock and laminate and you’re ready to go! I’ve included suggestions for several games and activities to use. These affordable cards are on sale until September 5, and can be found here in the store.